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Conservation International applauds the historic commitments to Ocean Conservation at Pacific Islands Forum

9/4/2012

Outcomes of the 43rd Pacific Islands Forum include several of the largest and most unprecedented commitments to the Pacific Oceanscape

Rarotonga, Cook Islands — For the third consecutive year,
the Pacific Islands Forum has provided historic international commitment to
sustainable ocean management and conservation, keeping in line with its theme,
"Large Ocean States — the Pacific Challenge." These included the launch of the
world's biggest marine park by the government of
the Cook Islands, plans to create an even larger
marine protected area by the government of New Caledonia, plans to create
the world's largest transboundary protected area collaboration in the Phoenix
Islands between the United States and Kiribati governments, and the announcement
of a Pacific Islands oceans investment package by the World Bank.

"To hear the leaders speak about the Pacific Oceanscape as their own
vision gives us all hope that a new era in marine conservation is upon us. The
Oceanscape has been officially adopted by the entire forum as an essential
platform of their collaboration with each other and with their outside
development partners, including Australia, the European Union, the World Bank,
the U.N., China, the U.S., New Zealand, France and Taiwan," said Peter
Seligmann, Chairman and chief executive officer at Conservation International.
"Special thanks must be given to President
Anote Tong of Kiribati, CI's newest board member whose inspired leadership
brought the vision of the Oceanscape to the forum, and to Prime Minister Henry
Puna of the Cook Islands, whose strong support and recent marine park commitment
has continued the strong growth and advancement of the Pacific Oceanscape's
protected areas."

The most immediate and ground breaking announcement was from the host
country, the Cook Islands, which launched their new marine park which at 1.2
million square kilometers (386,000 square miles), is equal to the size of Egypt,
half of the nation's territory, and the largest marine park in the
world.

However, they may not hold this position for long as the government of New
Caledonia also announced its intention to establish a 1.4 million square
kilometer (540,500 square mile) marine protected area in their portion of the
Coral Sea, adjacent to Australia's newly protected one million square kilometers
of their portion of the Coral Sea. The protected area includes the world's
largest lagoon of approximately 24,000 square kilometers. New Caledonia's MPA is
also a milestone pledge as this is the first contribution made to the Pacific
Oceanscape from Melanesia as well as from a French overseas territory.

Another groundbreaking announcement came from the United States Secretary
of State Hillary Clinton, an observer at the Forum, who pledged to deepen the
U.S. relationship in the region by strengthening the conservation commitment
between the Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA) and the Pacific Remote Islands
Marine National Monument (PRIMNM) and form the Phoenix Ocean Arc across the
archipelago. With an area of 800,000 square kilometers (308,880 square miles),
it will be the largest, whole archipelago, trans-boundary conservation
partnership in history.

In support of such substantial government commitments, CI also applauds the
World Bank announcement of a Pacific Islands
ocean investment package which is to be supported by a number of partners
from the Global Partnership for Oceans (GPO). This package will build on
existing ocean activities in the region such as the Pacific Oceanscape Framework
and target priorities where financing gaps have been identified, or where
innovation and private sector engagement can help to transform markets for ocean
goods and services toward greener and sustainable production.

"These
excellent results for the Pacific Oceanscape show the world that the leaders
here understand the urgency needed to protect this huge swath of the Pacific,"
said Dr. Greg Stone, chief scientist for Oceans and executive vice president for
Conservation International. "The commitments from the Cook Islands, New
Caledonia, Kiribati, the United States as well as the World Bank serve as a
validation to all those who have been working so hard on this extraordinary
initiative."

Covering over 10 percent of the world's ocean area, the Pacific Oceanscape
provides a framework for the integrated conservation management of the Pacific
Ocean and Islands, including ocean health and security, governance, sustainable
resource management, increased research and knowledge investment and
facilitating the partnerships and cooperation needed to support the conservation
this vast ecosystem.

Conservation International (CI) has worked closely with Pacific Islands
Leaders, their regional intergovernmental agencies, and civil society to develop
the Pacific Oceanscape Framework which was endorsed formally in 2010. CI has
also contributed to other marine commitments in the region including the, the
Phoenix Islands Protected Area, Coral Triangle Initiative and the Micronesia
Challenge.

Note to
editors:Conservation International (CI) — Building
upon a strong foundation of science, partnership and field demonstration, CI
empowers societies to responsibly and sustainably care for nature, our global
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